Over 40 special volunteer units, each with its own unique name, for fighting in the war with Ukraine have been formed in at least 20 Russian regions, reports Russian newspaper Kommersant, citing its calculations.
According to the newspaper, the forming of such units has been going on since spring, information about them is being published in local media and social media of the regional authorities. The names of the units are connected to their territorial affiliation; most members of such volunteer units are locals from the places where the units are being formed, writes Kommersant.
In particular, volunteer units Kronstadt, Neva, and Pavlovsk have been formed in Saint Petersburg, Bootur in Yakutia (according to the legend, Elley Bootur was the first ancestor of the Yakut people — translator’s note), Tiger in the Primorsky region, Alga and Timer (Onwards and Iron in Tatar) in Kazan, Tatarstan, Atal (Volga in Chuvash) in Chuvashia, Parma and Molot in the Perm region, Amursky in the Amur region, Nevsky and Ladozhsky in the Saint Petersburg region.
Formally, the volunteers sign a contract for a term from several months to more with the Russian Defence Ministry and get the official status of contract servicemen. The payouts differ from region to region — from 130,000 rubles (€2,070) per month to 300,000 rubles (€4,770), reports Kommersant. According to the newspaper, they will also get payments for successful conduct of combat and daily payments of 8,000 rubles (€127) for “every day of the offensive”.
According to Kommersant’s source, the units are being formed on the territorial basis because, this way, it is easier to deal with the volunteers. Furthermore, federal government officials asked regional authorities to provide informational and financial support, said the source.
On 1 August, it was reported that over 40 volunteers from the Chuvash battalion Atal demanded that the authorities of Chuvashia pay them the promised 200,000 rubles (€3,178) for their participation in the war in Ukraine. According to the volunteers, during the selection process, a military commissioner personally promised a one-time payment of 200,000 rubles and daily payments of 2,000 rubles (€32), however, the servicemen did not receive the money.
On 26 June, head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov announced the formation of four new battalions that will fight in Ukraine — North-Akhmat, South-Akhmat, West-Akhmat, and East-Akhmat. “Solely Chechen guys will be members of these battalions. They will become part of the composition of troops of the Russian Defence Ministry,” wrote Kadyrov.
